Sampling programs are used to monitor critical raw materials, in-process materials, finished goods, and processing environments in the food and beverage industry. Similar sampling programs are also used in healthcare settings to monitor the effectiveness of decontaminating environmental surfaces in a patient environment as well as instruments and devices used in screening and therapeutic procedures. Routine sampling and testing can allow quality assurance personnel to detect undesirable materials, such as microorganisms, at a very early stage and take steps to prevent subsequent contamination of equipment and/or products. A variety of tests can be performed to detect these undesirable materials. Examples of such tests include chemical residue tests (e.g., Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) bioluminescence tests and protein colorimetric tests), culture methods, genetic tests (e.g., PCR), immunodiagnostic tests, and bioluminescent tests.
Sample-collection devices or apparatuses are typically used to collect surface samples for environmental tests. Commercially-available sample-collection devices include absorbent devices such as sponges, swabs, and the like. In addition, certain sample-collection devices are capable of collecting a predetermined volume of a liquid sample.
Because of its use as energy “currency” in all metabolizing systems, ATP can indicate the presence of organic or bioorganic residues in a sample. The presence of ATP can be measured using a bioluminescent enzymatic assay. For example, a luciferin/luciferase enzyme assay system uses ATP to generate light. This light output can be detected and quantified in a light detection device, e.g., a luminometer. The presence of ATP in a sample may be a direct indicator of the presence of a microorganism (i.e., the ATP is derived from microorganisms in a sample containing no other sources of ATP), or the ATP may be an indirect indicator of the presence of a microorganism (i.e., the ATP is derived from vegetative or animal matter and indicates that nutrients that support the growth of microorganisms may be present in the sample). In addition, the presence or absence of ATP in a sample is used routinely to assess the efficacy of cleaning processes, e.g., in food, beverage, healthcare (e.g., environmental surfaces, surgical instruments, endoscopes, and other medical devices), water, and sanitation industries.
For example, ATP measurement systems have been utilized as monitoring tools in the food industry for over 15 years to audit the efficacy of sanitation processes. Such systems can detect very small amounts of ATP (e.g., 1 femtomole) on a variety of surfaces commonly found in food processing operations that need to be cleaned and disinfected. Detecting the presence of ATP on surfaces that are supposed to be sanitized can indicate a failure of the cleaning and disinfection process.
More recently, ATP monitoring tools have been adopted for a similar purpose in clinical applications to monitor the cleanliness of a patient's environment. There is now compelling clinical evidence that contaminated surfaces in a hospital make an important contribution to the epidemic and endemic transmission, e.g., of C. difficile, VRE, MRSA, A. baumannii, and P. aeruginosa, and to the endemic transmission of norovirus. Effective infection prevention programs include systematic monitoring of the environment's cleanliness. ATP monitoring, for example, can provide a quantitative measurement system that can be used to support such a program.